Romi Jain, PhD (CSU, Ohio, USA), is a published author, poet, and award-winning researcher. She is Executive Director of the Canadian Society for Peace and Global Studies (CASPEGS) and has taught at the University of British Columbia. She is Executive Editor of the Indian Journal of Asian Affairs (reputable academic journal listed in the Excellence in Research List 2018, Australian Research Council).
WRITING GENRE
Jain is skilled in writing both non-fiction works and fictions. This includes scholarly books, journal articles, short articles, autobiographies/memoirs, biographies, blogs, and poems. Below are some images of publications where her works have appeared.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Jain is a winner of the Insight Development Grant from the Canadian federal government agency, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.
Jain’s book China’s Soft Power and Higher Education in South Asia (New York: Routledge, 2021) is on the shelves of nearly 80 libraries, including in the US, Canada, Mexico, UK, Sweden, Germany, Australia, and UAE.
Pulitzer Prize (America’s highest prize in literature)-nominated Charles Fishman published Jain’s “Acid Attack” in his book Veils, Halos and Shackles.
Her poem “India: From the Lens of History” was published in Harvard Asia Quarterly, a Harvard University publication. In all, she has published nearly 200 poems in poetry books, anthologies, and literary journals. These include: Off the Coast, The Journal of Poetry Society, Transition, Penwood, Touch: The Journal of Healing, and The Bombay Review.
Her articles have appeared in Asian Survey, Diplomacy & Statecraft, Asian Affairs, Journal of Third World Studies, and Economic and Political Weekly, among other peer-reviewed publications. She has written for University World News, The Diplomat, and Asia Times.
Jain’s professional leadership reflects in her serving as Guest Editor-in-Chief of Harvard Asia Quarterly and the Guest Editor of Social Transformations in Chinese Societies (UK: Emerald Publishing).
PRAISE OF JAIN’S WORKS
Alice Shapiro, Poet Laureate(Douglasville, GA, USA) writes in her review:
“Romi Jain, in her book Poetry! You Resurrect Me, presents us with visual poems but not in the familiar sense. Her images surprise, even jolt us awake to take us beyond the expected, the orderliness and commonness of comfortable statements. It is, however, not a jarring ride because Jain stops short of deep abstraction. She lifts us high enough to introduce her light, reflective nuances of language while remaining steadfast on the earthy soil. It is a powerful combination. Skilled in beautifying subjects from science to humor and a touch of the celestial, Jain’s strong and consistent voice personifies her declaration in the book’s preface that “…a poem carries a magnetic charm…” (The Taj Mahal Review 12(1), p. 215).
“From Dr. Romi Jain’s meticulously researched and nicely written work emerges a compelling account of China’s latest efforts to engage neighboring South Asian nations in the sphere of higher education and academic research. This timely and insightful book should appeal to anyone interested in the evolving patterns of transnational higher education in the Global South.” – Joseph T. H. Lee, Director, Global Asia Institute, Pace University, New York, USA
“Interesting and insightful, Jain’s book is a pioneering study on how China has promoted soft power in South Asia through higher education. Must-read for students and academics who wish to have a deep understanding of why and how China has enhanced its global clout in the 21st century.“- Zhiqun Zhu, Professor of Political Science and International Relations, Bucknell University, USA
“This meticulously researched study evaluates China’s use of educational soft power in Nepal, and its ‘geointellect’ initiatives in the case of Pakistan and Sri Lanka in its leadership’s bid to establish China as a knowledge superpower. Dr. Jain finds that, although the PRC has surpassed the West in certain metrics, it still trails behind in others, suggesting that the true test lies in whether China’s educational soft power can succeed in human cultivation and talent cultivation in these countries.” – June Teufel Dreyer, Professor of Political Science, University of Miami, USA
WRITING SAMPLES
I. CREATIVE WORKS
1. The Art of Writing (Excerpts below)
To me, writing is like flying a kite. The beauty of the kite must not be blurred, which requires that while it may soar high like an eagle, it must be visible. The beauty of language, no matter how ornate, must not tamper with clarity. Again, the kite must not be too low that might suggest its earthy status. Similarly, the magnetic pinnacle of words reflects from their distance from prosaic style. Further, just as the string of the kite must be held firmly to prevent it from falling, the sentence must be prevented from falling apart, reflecting the tightness of diamonds in a lovely necklace.
….A well-crafted, intact text is like a well-shaped tree with a definite, meaningful, alluring direction of branches. However, striking a balance between economy and beauty is an art. Just as a hair-cutter nonchalantly puts the hair to scissors to shorten it, a writer who undertakes the economy exercise without an eye for aesthetics robs the text of the soul. The emasculated text becomes a robotic voice without ethos. Hence, a writer who wishes to bring in parsimony and preserve the charm would not evaluate the length of a sentence by the number of words, but by the redundancy of words. Editing would then not be a jarring interruption of the flow of writing and the delight of reading. This twin goal is achievable if the writer cares to fall for writing, and the affection so formed would only become deeper with time: writing will eventually reflect a fabulous match of pithiness and flow, of conciseness and grace.
2. But since the emergence of tea as the reigning queen of tastes, I have been spared of the moments of self-mortification. I have savored and gulped down cups of tea, mindless of the extreme heat in summers. My tea consumption has spiked up from several to seven cups a day when I am at home and able to make it in a traditional way, with the strainer gathering the ash and the tea pot turning blacker. Coincidentally, my tea has turned spicier with progression from grounded black peppers in India to a mix of cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and ginger in America and Canada. In quick succession, I have exposed my throat — cool with the cherries and caramel in ice-cream — to pourings of tea, as if a passage of snow has been layered with hot charcoals. And I have let the aroma of my favorite elixir linger on my taste buds and permeate the teeth that have turned pale and yellow. More
3. Molly, 5 feet tall, was skinny and olive-complexioned. With an M-shaped hairline, her small and thin face was striking with doe eyes, under round metallic glasses, and with two buck teeth. Molly was always neat, except for the make-up that suggested a kaleidoscopic shade over a wrinkled surface. Her suspender pants and silvery pigtails, with sporadic black streaks, formed her signature style. More
II. ACADEMIC WORKS
1. ‘Geointellect’ is an emerging manifestation of China’s global influence. I coined this term to denote a country’s dominance in higher education, research and innovation paradigms across geographies. Though facilitated at times by soft power, geointellect is differentiated, inter alia, by its rationale to establish and consolidate China’s global intellectual dominance…More
2. Cognitive dissonance refers to an experience of incongruity between an entrenched understanding of a phenomenon or concept and a new piece of cognition. If unaddressed, dissonance can be at the heart of international students’ unresolved dilemmas, unspoken feelings, and unshared stories, facts and experiences. In response, pedagogy needs to tap cognitive dissonance that issues from cultural diversity induced viewpoints, cognitive perceptions, and beliefs on the part of international students, enriching and equalizing the learning environment. Within the framework of postmodernism and social constructivism, this paper offers multiple strategies for the utilization of cognitive dissonance. It is based on three data sources. First, following approval from the Institutional Review Board (IRB) and the informed consent procedure, interviews instructors at a university in a mid-West American city highlight instructors’ experiences with and strategies pertaining to engagement of dissonance. Second, the author’s first-hand experiences of dissonance in the United States have been incorporated…More
3. In just over six years, China’s Belt and Road Initiative has swiftly expanded to vast swaths of the globe, with as many as 138 countries signing on. In 2017, President Xi Jinping’s signature project was incorporated into the Chinese
constitution, assuming extraordinary significance as the “project of the century.” China has couched the program in multilateral terms, with a promise of shared benefits through road and maritime connectivity projects, reviving the ancient Silk Road and revivifying the spirit of commercial, cultural and academic exchange. Cooperation among member countries is envisaged in policy coordination, facilities connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial integration, and people-to-people bonds. However, an active debate has ensued surrounding China’s motivations and the initiative’s potential outcomes for the host countries. Against this backdrop, I examine the economic implications for host countries and regions, using a geo-economic analytical framework…More
Contact: romi.jain@caspegs.org